Any Given Thursday
folder
Romance › General
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
10
Views:
3,081
Reviews:
14
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
Romance › General
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
10
Views:
3,081
Reviews:
14
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
Chapter Five
Bill Graves was a surprisingly interesting man to interview. He didn’t seem as neo-conservative in person as he did on paper. He had done nothing so far that would warrant abhorrence, or shame. In fact, he had been the model interviewee—intelligent, attentive, polite, and well spoken. Mr. Graves had understood all of her questions so far, and genuinely seemed interested in her study. Of course, the $50 interviewing fee was an added bonus. He was a retired farmer, and perhaps needed the extra income. Jobs were getting harder and harder to come by these days.
“With the risk of Social Security benefits fading, how do you feel about private accounts Mr. Graves? Do you feel that the Bush administration has done everything it can to save Social Security?”
Mr. Graves sucked his teeth, busily stroking a graying white beard. His shirt was white and pressed, and chinos were ironed perfectly with just the right amount of starch. The patches on his jacket were of the Confederate flag, and he made no attempt to hide his Southern pride. Celina ignored the flag, having seen many families wear it many times before. She had always believed that the flag was blatantly racist, and stood for, as well as perpetuated ignorant southern ideals. She could not however force the man to remove his jacket. During the course of the interview she had to constantly remind herself of the fact that she was dealing with real people, not the statistics that she often researched in class. This was the real world, and in the real world people disagreed with other people’s personal beliefs. Still, she could not help but feel upset at seeing what she believed to be a racist and antagonistic emblem right in front of her face. Or maybe she was just being too sensitive. She had always been a little thin skinned when it came to racial matters.
“George Bush has done a wonderful job of securing our Social Security benefits. I don’t believe that the well will run dry so to speak. You have to have faith in your president, and in your country. Besides, with the private accounts you can invest your money in stock market, and get a huge payload.”
Celina wrote his answers verbatim, amazed at the man’s blind faith in his president. Though she was supposed to be unbiased in her study (and she was) she was amazed at the fact that some of the conservatives could so easily put their faith in a person who, as yet had not lead or done anything of merit in her opinion. She looked to Jake, watching as he quizzed Mrs. Raji as if he were a harsh professor. They were merely supposed to ask questions, write a report based on the answers of those interviewed and draw their conclusions from the responses.
“Couldn’t one argue Mr. Graves, that giving people the option of playing the stock market, which is never steady, a danger to their finances? When people lose all their money, couldn’t they just as easily ask the government to bail them out of a tight financial jam? Forgive me if I sound skeptical sir, but can blind faith pay my medical bills when I become a Senior Citizen? Even if I were to invest my money into the stock market, would I not only be aiding the special interest groups that are in the pockets of the president?”
Mr. Graves appeared upset by her summation, and obviously didn’t like her negative portrayal of his president. They both knew she had crossed a line when she allowed her objectivity to get in the way of the interview. Celina cleared her throat, wishing she could take back what was said, but it was on the table now. She turned off the tape player, effectively cutting off any rebuttal he had to offer. She placed her pen on the notebook before her.
“You can disregard that last question Mr. Graves. This is not a debate, but a study being conducted by the Kurgan Institute for which I and my associate are representing. I apologize for my outburst. May we please continue with the interview?”
Mr. Graves nodded, but not before giving her a skeptical stare. She felt like a failure. Already she managed to alienate her first interviewee! What kind of analyst would she make if she failed to be unbiased? She could just see it now… Jake would parade around like a boastful jerk because he had been able to keep cool, and she would be left twisting in the wind! Shaking her head of such negative thoughts, Celina pressed on. After the interview was over, she took down Mr. Graves’ contact information and informed him that a check would be arriving in the mail in the next 4 to 6 weeks. Jake had already wrapped up his interview fifteen minutes ago and was waiting in the conference room of the Tillman Convention Center.
“I caught some of your interview. It sounded pretty tough, but it looks like you pulled through unscathed.”
“I could say the same for you. You were pretty good as well.”
Celina nodded, massaging the kinks out of her neck. They had gotten through the first of 26 interview sessions successfully. She felt confident that they would have a very thorough and insightful thesis. She took of her blazer, and grabbed her briefcase. Jake followed behind, and they walked in pleasant silence. The drive back to the hotel was uneventful. The night was still young, and the wind blew warmly on her face as Jake drove down the highway. In this setting, she was reminded of past late night drives. She didn’t know who turned on the radio, but suddenly the sounds of Santana’s acoustic guitar, coupled with Michelle Branch’s voice sent her back in time. It just takes a little bit of this, a little bit of that—it started with a kiss now we’re up to bat… A little bit of laughs, a little bit of pain, I’m telling you my babe—it’s all in this game of love…
“I love this song!”
She squealed, humming along with song. Jake stole glances as he drove, and a small smile emerged on his face. He wondered where the laughing, happy Celina had wandered off to. Had he sealed the former Celina away? Would she ever come back, or had the damage been done? Where was the girl that he grew up with? Where was she, whose heart had been claimed by him? He had definitely broken it, but she had done the same to him. Slowly he was able to rebuild but what was half a barely mended heart. Even still, it was nothing without her. She was his other half, the yang to his ying. Looking at her smiling face only made the pain of living without her more noticeable.
December 1997
The great thing about having a lake on your property was that you could skate over the frozen water in the winter. The bad part about it was that winters in Georgia were never really frigid, and ice skating was only allowed during extremely cold period. Living in the south, one would think that to enjoy such an exercise would be nearly impossible. Fortunately, this winter had been blistering cold. Record temperatures meant that for a short time at least Celina could skate to her hearts content. She was enjoying herself for the most part, until Brian and his good-for-nothing brother showed up. As usual, the idiot duo decided to do exactly what she was doing when she wanted to do it. No doubt it had been Jake’s idea.
Ever since that kissed they had shared (rather the kiss that Jake stole) last autumn, Celina had done her best to avoid him. At first he ignored her, and she ignored him. Then his stupid friends Jeremy and Drew decided to set him up with that annoying Mackenzie Ferguson. Celina didn’t too much care, and apparently neither did Jake. Unfortunately, Mackenzie did care and she was very upset to discover that Jake was immune to her charms. Celina had to grudgingly give him his props for that. Maybe there was a shred of intelligence somewhere in that fool head of his. Even now, she could know no peace from him because he insisted on making his intentions known. Sure, he got the other kids to stop bothering her about her looks, but they had already calmed down anyway when they learned she could not be riled so easily.
Celina wanted to make it clear to him that she hadn’t asked for his help. In fact, she told him on numerous occasions to leave her alone. Truthfully, Celina didn’t understand why he liked her. She didn’t think that she was ugly or anything, but she wasn’t a great beauty either. She didn’t have a swan like neck, or cherry lips, or even a petite frame. She inherited her mother’s breasts and hips, her father’s nose, and the elasticity of her hair from her maternal grandmother. As she zoomed around the lake oblivious to all around her, she wondered if he would ever explain his one sided attraction. She was a year older, and a little bit wiser, but still clueless about what to make of Jacob Collier.
“Jake doesn’t even know why he likes me. What is the point in liking someone if you don’t know why you like them?”
She was caught off guard when a hand grabbed hers and near pushed her off balance. It was Jake, staring into her eyes thoughtfully. Around them there was no one else except for the birds and the trees. A quick look towards her house let her know that her brother and Brian were probably doing something annoying. She tried to snatch her hand back, but his grip was steadfast. His smile was less arrogant than the smirks he wore before. Now his smiles conveyed an inner confidence. He half pulled-half dragged her over the ice, and soon she Celina found herself in an awkward dance. They moved differently, yet they were both in sync. She didn’t try to best Jake with her balance skills, and he didn’t either. They moved as one, like polar opposites over the water. The silence between them was comfortable, even companionable. Finally, Jake spoke in the quiet.
“Why do I need a reason to like you Celina? Sometimes, there is no rhyme or reason to life. You have a distinct problem with accepting things on faith alone. You always have to analyze things, to debunk things almost as if you want me to not like you. It’s like you want to be proven right.”
Jake’s words left her with much to ponder. Over the year he had become less and less antagonistic towards her. She accepted this new facet of his personality with unease. How could she trust his words now, when all he had done earlier was give her grief? She received just as much as she dished out of course, but other than their first meeting Celina hadn’t gone out of her way to be a pest to him. Celina released her hands from Jake’s hold staring him dead in the eye.
“That is a surprisingly mature way to look at things. Look at it from my perspective. Over a year ago, a boy who constantly teased me suddenly kisses me one day and stops being a nuisance. He follows me everywhere, and goes out of his way to prevent me from even possibly getting a boyfriend by threatening to beat up any guy he sees me with. He never even tries to be romantic, or thoughtful. Instead he tries to steal kisses, and behave like a jilted jealous boyfriend. How am I supposed to act? You never told me what made you decide to do a 180.”
It wasn’t an unreasonable request. Jake always managed to show up whenever she went to the movies with friends. He would always say that they just “happened” to be in the same place at the same time. No one happened to meet on several different occasions by coincidence alone. Obviously he was following her, or someone was telling him what her plans were. Keesha was the most likely suspect considering the fact that she insisted on playing matchmaker. Her older sister could be so annoying sometimes.
“I like it when you smile. I like it when you unintentionally let it slip that you like me just as much as I like you. I especially like it when you play hard to get when we both know you want me. What difference does it make? I’ll like whoever I damn well please.”
Celina didn’t know how to respond to that comment, so she simply chose to ignore him once more. She skated off to the bank of the pond, taking off her skates and replacing them with her winter boots. Sparing a glance behind her, Celina offered her hand to him. Jake smiled again, and she shivered as his hand slid into hers. Maybe it was the warmth from his hand, or the cold outdoors, but Celina felt safe with Jake in that moment. Her body felt as though it belonged along side him. Her blush spread over her face like wildfire. Even with dark skin, Jake could probably tell that he was having an effect on her. Thankfully, he spared her the embarrassment of bringing it up.
Jake on the other hand was pleased with the progress that he was making. One day soon, she would see what he had known for a long time now. She was beginning to like him too. He had taken those first awkward steps of puppy love. She too would join him, and they both would try to make sense of the feelings that they inspired in each other. Jake didn’t really know what to make of his feelings for Celina Thompson, but he desperately wanted to understand them.
“With the risk of Social Security benefits fading, how do you feel about private accounts Mr. Graves? Do you feel that the Bush administration has done everything it can to save Social Security?”
Mr. Graves sucked his teeth, busily stroking a graying white beard. His shirt was white and pressed, and chinos were ironed perfectly with just the right amount of starch. The patches on his jacket were of the Confederate flag, and he made no attempt to hide his Southern pride. Celina ignored the flag, having seen many families wear it many times before. She had always believed that the flag was blatantly racist, and stood for, as well as perpetuated ignorant southern ideals. She could not however force the man to remove his jacket. During the course of the interview she had to constantly remind herself of the fact that she was dealing with real people, not the statistics that she often researched in class. This was the real world, and in the real world people disagreed with other people’s personal beliefs. Still, she could not help but feel upset at seeing what she believed to be a racist and antagonistic emblem right in front of her face. Or maybe she was just being too sensitive. She had always been a little thin skinned when it came to racial matters.
“George Bush has done a wonderful job of securing our Social Security benefits. I don’t believe that the well will run dry so to speak. You have to have faith in your president, and in your country. Besides, with the private accounts you can invest your money in stock market, and get a huge payload.”
Celina wrote his answers verbatim, amazed at the man’s blind faith in his president. Though she was supposed to be unbiased in her study (and she was) she was amazed at the fact that some of the conservatives could so easily put their faith in a person who, as yet had not lead or done anything of merit in her opinion. She looked to Jake, watching as he quizzed Mrs. Raji as if he were a harsh professor. They were merely supposed to ask questions, write a report based on the answers of those interviewed and draw their conclusions from the responses.
“Couldn’t one argue Mr. Graves, that giving people the option of playing the stock market, which is never steady, a danger to their finances? When people lose all their money, couldn’t they just as easily ask the government to bail them out of a tight financial jam? Forgive me if I sound skeptical sir, but can blind faith pay my medical bills when I become a Senior Citizen? Even if I were to invest my money into the stock market, would I not only be aiding the special interest groups that are in the pockets of the president?”
Mr. Graves appeared upset by her summation, and obviously didn’t like her negative portrayal of his president. They both knew she had crossed a line when she allowed her objectivity to get in the way of the interview. Celina cleared her throat, wishing she could take back what was said, but it was on the table now. She turned off the tape player, effectively cutting off any rebuttal he had to offer. She placed her pen on the notebook before her.
“You can disregard that last question Mr. Graves. This is not a debate, but a study being conducted by the Kurgan Institute for which I and my associate are representing. I apologize for my outburst. May we please continue with the interview?”
Mr. Graves nodded, but not before giving her a skeptical stare. She felt like a failure. Already she managed to alienate her first interviewee! What kind of analyst would she make if she failed to be unbiased? She could just see it now… Jake would parade around like a boastful jerk because he had been able to keep cool, and she would be left twisting in the wind! Shaking her head of such negative thoughts, Celina pressed on. After the interview was over, she took down Mr. Graves’ contact information and informed him that a check would be arriving in the mail in the next 4 to 6 weeks. Jake had already wrapped up his interview fifteen minutes ago and was waiting in the conference room of the Tillman Convention Center.
“I caught some of your interview. It sounded pretty tough, but it looks like you pulled through unscathed.”
“I could say the same for you. You were pretty good as well.”
Celina nodded, massaging the kinks out of her neck. They had gotten through the first of 26 interview sessions successfully. She felt confident that they would have a very thorough and insightful thesis. She took of her blazer, and grabbed her briefcase. Jake followed behind, and they walked in pleasant silence. The drive back to the hotel was uneventful. The night was still young, and the wind blew warmly on her face as Jake drove down the highway. In this setting, she was reminded of past late night drives. She didn’t know who turned on the radio, but suddenly the sounds of Santana’s acoustic guitar, coupled with Michelle Branch’s voice sent her back in time. It just takes a little bit of this, a little bit of that—it started with a kiss now we’re up to bat… A little bit of laughs, a little bit of pain, I’m telling you my babe—it’s all in this game of love…
“I love this song!”
She squealed, humming along with song. Jake stole glances as he drove, and a small smile emerged on his face. He wondered where the laughing, happy Celina had wandered off to. Had he sealed the former Celina away? Would she ever come back, or had the damage been done? Where was the girl that he grew up with? Where was she, whose heart had been claimed by him? He had definitely broken it, but she had done the same to him. Slowly he was able to rebuild but what was half a barely mended heart. Even still, it was nothing without her. She was his other half, the yang to his ying. Looking at her smiling face only made the pain of living without her more noticeable.
December 1997
The great thing about having a lake on your property was that you could skate over the frozen water in the winter. The bad part about it was that winters in Georgia were never really frigid, and ice skating was only allowed during extremely cold period. Living in the south, one would think that to enjoy such an exercise would be nearly impossible. Fortunately, this winter had been blistering cold. Record temperatures meant that for a short time at least Celina could skate to her hearts content. She was enjoying herself for the most part, until Brian and his good-for-nothing brother showed up. As usual, the idiot duo decided to do exactly what she was doing when she wanted to do it. No doubt it had been Jake’s idea.
Ever since that kissed they had shared (rather the kiss that Jake stole) last autumn, Celina had done her best to avoid him. At first he ignored her, and she ignored him. Then his stupid friends Jeremy and Drew decided to set him up with that annoying Mackenzie Ferguson. Celina didn’t too much care, and apparently neither did Jake. Unfortunately, Mackenzie did care and she was very upset to discover that Jake was immune to her charms. Celina had to grudgingly give him his props for that. Maybe there was a shred of intelligence somewhere in that fool head of his. Even now, she could know no peace from him because he insisted on making his intentions known. Sure, he got the other kids to stop bothering her about her looks, but they had already calmed down anyway when they learned she could not be riled so easily.
Celina wanted to make it clear to him that she hadn’t asked for his help. In fact, she told him on numerous occasions to leave her alone. Truthfully, Celina didn’t understand why he liked her. She didn’t think that she was ugly or anything, but she wasn’t a great beauty either. She didn’t have a swan like neck, or cherry lips, or even a petite frame. She inherited her mother’s breasts and hips, her father’s nose, and the elasticity of her hair from her maternal grandmother. As she zoomed around the lake oblivious to all around her, she wondered if he would ever explain his one sided attraction. She was a year older, and a little bit wiser, but still clueless about what to make of Jacob Collier.
“Jake doesn’t even know why he likes me. What is the point in liking someone if you don’t know why you like them?”
She was caught off guard when a hand grabbed hers and near pushed her off balance. It was Jake, staring into her eyes thoughtfully. Around them there was no one else except for the birds and the trees. A quick look towards her house let her know that her brother and Brian were probably doing something annoying. She tried to snatch her hand back, but his grip was steadfast. His smile was less arrogant than the smirks he wore before. Now his smiles conveyed an inner confidence. He half pulled-half dragged her over the ice, and soon she Celina found herself in an awkward dance. They moved differently, yet they were both in sync. She didn’t try to best Jake with her balance skills, and he didn’t either. They moved as one, like polar opposites over the water. The silence between them was comfortable, even companionable. Finally, Jake spoke in the quiet.
“Why do I need a reason to like you Celina? Sometimes, there is no rhyme or reason to life. You have a distinct problem with accepting things on faith alone. You always have to analyze things, to debunk things almost as if you want me to not like you. It’s like you want to be proven right.”
Jake’s words left her with much to ponder. Over the year he had become less and less antagonistic towards her. She accepted this new facet of his personality with unease. How could she trust his words now, when all he had done earlier was give her grief? She received just as much as she dished out of course, but other than their first meeting Celina hadn’t gone out of her way to be a pest to him. Celina released her hands from Jake’s hold staring him dead in the eye.
“That is a surprisingly mature way to look at things. Look at it from my perspective. Over a year ago, a boy who constantly teased me suddenly kisses me one day and stops being a nuisance. He follows me everywhere, and goes out of his way to prevent me from even possibly getting a boyfriend by threatening to beat up any guy he sees me with. He never even tries to be romantic, or thoughtful. Instead he tries to steal kisses, and behave like a jilted jealous boyfriend. How am I supposed to act? You never told me what made you decide to do a 180.”
It wasn’t an unreasonable request. Jake always managed to show up whenever she went to the movies with friends. He would always say that they just “happened” to be in the same place at the same time. No one happened to meet on several different occasions by coincidence alone. Obviously he was following her, or someone was telling him what her plans were. Keesha was the most likely suspect considering the fact that she insisted on playing matchmaker. Her older sister could be so annoying sometimes.
“I like it when you smile. I like it when you unintentionally let it slip that you like me just as much as I like you. I especially like it when you play hard to get when we both know you want me. What difference does it make? I’ll like whoever I damn well please.”
Celina didn’t know how to respond to that comment, so she simply chose to ignore him once more. She skated off to the bank of the pond, taking off her skates and replacing them with her winter boots. Sparing a glance behind her, Celina offered her hand to him. Jake smiled again, and she shivered as his hand slid into hers. Maybe it was the warmth from his hand, or the cold outdoors, but Celina felt safe with Jake in that moment. Her body felt as though it belonged along side him. Her blush spread over her face like wildfire. Even with dark skin, Jake could probably tell that he was having an effect on her. Thankfully, he spared her the embarrassment of bringing it up.
Jake on the other hand was pleased with the progress that he was making. One day soon, she would see what he had known for a long time now. She was beginning to like him too. He had taken those first awkward steps of puppy love. She too would join him, and they both would try to make sense of the feelings that they inspired in each other. Jake didn’t really know what to make of his feelings for Celina Thompson, but he desperately wanted to understand them.